running out of ideas!

[bigyagi]

what now? after getting new harness fitted, and all connections checked out ok, all things electrical working as they should, heck, even the workings of the fans, is perfect. i notice the engine revs perfectly, and seems smoother! however!!, coming home today, i was treated to the mother of a thunderstorm, so bad, i had to stop, because i could not see a thing, the rain was so heavy. after a while, i set off again, and made for home. what the bejesus? my windscreen washer is sending jets of water onto the screen, and its not even on?? hmm, get home, and hey presto, my foglights are back on all by themselves, and the engine keeps dropping a couple k's, like its under load. now my headlights are on, and cycle between full on, and glowing everything in between, alternating between the foglights and headlights. i leave the car for 2 hours, and sup some golden nectar. go back out, and now the car wont start?? no spark at the plugs wtf?
i'm slowly getting to the point, that if i , or the garage cant fix this abortion of an electrical problem, i'm done.
for your next question, no, the carpet is dry on the passenger side.
i'm out of ideas, except for sell it, and look for another car!
bob.

[carsonmx114]

sound like your engine harness is losing it's ground. the water and the extra amperage of the headlights and the wipers probably caused the ground to give up.

[fast924S]

Yea it really does sound like a bad ground or a short some where, have you checked alllllll the grounds??

[bigyagi]

i'm stumped. put her into the shop, cause i'm no good with the electrical side of things, and expected this to be the end of my troubles.
if she does'nt start tomorrow, i think i'm going to go ballistic !!
bob.

[todwic]

the headlights are throwin me off. Otherwise, I'd say you have steering column issues. but the headlight switch is in the dash. That's just curious. Of course a common ground failing could do it, also you may want to treat them as seperate, unrelated issues and have yer mech go in head first with a multi meter. Gawd there is a league of wiring in that dash.

[bigyagi]

the car started as normal this morning, but cut out and died 30 seconds later. been doing that for most of the day. last time out, i see my foglights all lit up by themselves, and dash warning lights on, but dim, and audible alert going off too. all this with no key in ign. took out dash pod, and no obvious signs of burned wiring/cable/connectors. seems strange to be at same place, as before. anyway, with ign switch on, i hear a loud clicking coming from below air-box?? remove the same, and at the rear bracket, there is a small round aluminum cylinder, with two leads attached. the top of the cylinder has a large hex on it, and it bolts to the underside of the airbox bracket. this item is clicking away, with ign switch to on. any ideas what it does?? it is attached by hose to the afm, and looks like to the intake manifold too.
bob.

[bigyagi]

hi FR, yes i hear you on that one. it seems like this item has never worked from day one. i talked to the sparks today, and he is going to re-check all the new wiring/harness, and fuse/relay box. he seems to think that the problem lays in the cable that goes around the front of the vehicle and supplies the headlight motor/ lights/fans etc. he said a break in this area would show up as what i'm seeing. i dont know, i'm clueless when it comes to electrickery.just glad the car did not burn up.
i asked him about putting in another fuse box, as it appears that some items are fed direct with no fuse!! he is not so keen on this, but i'm determined that some items will have a fuse in them.
i posted on clarks garage, and someone replied that a few early models have burned up this way, as there is no protection at all on certain circuits. ah well. seems i dodged the proverbial bullet again. i expect to get my car back at the weekend, and i'm hoping its all done too. i dont mind regular maintenance, and pulling stuff apart, but this electrical stuff is getting to me!!
thanks for reply/info.
regards, bob.
p/s what is it now, 2 years or three years, i have had your excellent chip, and i'm still blown away by it !! great stuff!